Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The author performed a content analysis of the characterization of Haitian political factions in New York Times and Washington Post articles published prior to the coup d��tat on February 29th, 2004. Jean Bertrand Aristide supporters were referred to with negatively valued terms significantly more often than opponents of the democratically elected president. Mainstream news coverage of the 2004 coup d��tat privileges U.S. economic and policy interests over an accurate representation of the history of U.S./Haiti foreign relations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Party assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina has focused on encouraging multi-ethnic and moderate mono-ethnic parties. However, multi-ethnic parties have met with very limited electoral success and moderate mono-ethnic parties have found electoral success primarily by radicalizing their political discourse to match that of nationalist parties. Multi-ethnic parties promoting a civic notion of citizenship and moderate mono-ethnic parties based on accommodation with other ethnic groups are at an electoral disadvantage as long as domestic political competition is focused on the rules of the electoral game and not on specific policy options. I provide evidence for the effect of international intervention drawn from patterns of electoral support for multi-ethnic and moderate mono-ethnic parties in local and national elections in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The Simpsons is not your average cartoon. Through its exquisitely crafted humor and multi-layered satire, The Simpsons has transcended the boundaries of the television sitcom to become an established feature of our cultural landscape. As testament to its depth and intelligence, scholars have used it as a springboard for exploring everything from Nietzsche to environmentalism. The show is also rife with jokes and references to both law and those involved with the legal system. Inasmuch as its humor springs from our culture�s lawyer jokes and stereotypes, The Simpsons is a fertile ground for considering popular perceptions and attitudes about lawyers.
Although its lawyer jokes rest on stereotypes (both positive and negative) of attorneys, The Simpsons does not indict the entire legal profession, but only unethical, ambulance-chasers like its iconic �law talkin� guy� Lionel Hutz. With regard to Hutz, the show ridicules every negative stereotype manifested by him, designating that he is to be laughed at. With regard to other attorneys, however, jokes usually are not at their expense. Instead, the humor does not laugh at these lawyers, i.e., most lawyers, but laughs with them.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A transition in the portrayal of masculinity on television can be examined within the context of the �new man,� an idea that emerged in 1970s as a reaction to feminist and other social movements. The television image of the new man was one that embraced and fostered emotional relationships with men and women. The leading male characters on the situation comedy Frasier are examples of the �new man� paradigm. Frasier is progressive in many ways with its portrayal of the new man, yet problematic in other ways. The paper examines Frasier with a focus on how the image of the new man is portrayed and parodied in the program. As it will be discussed, the symbolic construction of the new man on Frasier is connected to ideologies of consumerism and conspicuous consumption of white-collar viewers.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper uses the narrative of the popular reality television show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" in which gay men makeover straight men to make them more presentable and desirable, as a model for analyzing the makeover that the U.S. Supreme Court effectuates on Bowers v. Hardwick in the recent case of Lawrence v. Texas. I argue that the addition of "Queer Eye" transforms Lawrence into a more producerly text, complete with all the political potential and pitfalls that broader accessibility and more open construction may entail. My analysis of the five elements that the Justices make over in Lawrence integrates video clips from Queer Eye into a more standard academic analysis of the case, in order to transform the parochial, undesirable and straight Bowers into the worldly, desirable yet still straight Lawrence. In doing so, I hope to integrate a queer performative aesthetic into mainstream constitutional theorizing, and a more playful and parodic aesthetic into the often dreadfully serious and abstract area of queer theory (which, ironically, seems to almost always perform a straight aesthetic, even as it seeks to criticize heterosexual epistemologies and practices).